I have gotten a few requests from friends and family to tell you all more of what my day looks like each month.
The word “typical” doesn’t seem to fit India at all because each day here has the capability of bringing us all types of unexpected joys and challenges. For example the state in India where we are staying called Andhra Pradesh is the largest state in India. The government is currently in the process of splitting into two different states. The people are against this decision and have been staging strikes, protests and riots. Some days they shut off the electricity, which affects the water supply, or they force all business and autos to shut down. It is an interesting time to be here in India but for me it has brought many more blessings than challenges; such as bonding with my teammates over the fact that we all haven’t showered in 3 days or playing in the rain to cool ourselves down.
Protest here in India, NOTE: we are safe our contact takes good care of us and this is more peaceful than it looks here. I just wanted to share more of what it is like for us here in India.
During the power outages there is a water truck that comes and fills up the homes tanks
Although we do have a lot of variety in our days we still try to stick to a tentative schedule. We normally have a bit of free time in the morning, as ministry does not start until ten o’clock here. I spend the mornings sleeping in a bit, journaling, reading, doing laundry, and then we have a bible study with all the women in the house. We currently have two all girls teams living in a house together that is owned by the founder of the organization we are partnering with. Most of us have been sleeping outside in our tents because it is cooler outside the house. The first few nights here in our tents the mugginess in the air was still quite stifling outside but the past few nights it has been rainy and a bit cooler. Cooler air at night is such a blessing!! At about 9:45 we walk out of the compound to the road and try and catch some autos; which are little yellow taxi carts and we head over to Victory House. Victory House is the original orphanage that was started by Sarah of Sarah’s Covenant House. Right now they are transitioning a lot of the children to new smaller foster homes run by mostly American and Canadian foster moms and ayah’s who are widowed woman who are in need of work. The first couple of days we were here we helped move boys and girls to their new foster homes. Now we are cleaning and painting the Victory House to get it ready for the older boys who still live there to move into less crowded rooms. In the mornings we spend time at Victory House cleaning, organizing, and eventually we will be painting and moving the older boys to their new rooms. At around 12:30 or 1 we leave for lunch which is usually a place called Carmel which has American style food, Ramya which is yummy Indian food, or we look for street food which is always cheap and delicious! After lunch we all head to our different foster homes. I am working at Faith Home where I have five boys that range from 3- 10. Where I am working at the children do not currently have a foster mom just one ayah.
Our home this month; Peace House
Paying for our autos
Victory House
A room at Victory that we cleaned
When you experience homes with and without foster moms you can tell a huge difference. The foster moms that they currently have really devote everything to the children. They have clean homes, they are well fed and happy children, they are constantly being engaged and being taught. The homes without foster moms have a lot less 1:1 time and are being engaged a lot less. Myself and Susannah a girl from the other team and I are partners at our home. When we get there in the afternoon we have started a routine of bathing them and brushing their teeth right away. After we finish we give each child some 1:1 time where we play, cuddle, sing, or walk around looking at the scenery. We then try to rotate between the two of us cleaning the apartment and doing some different exercises with the kids. On the floor above us they have a foster mom who is a physical therapist. She has taught us some different things that we can do to help the children. We are working on leg strength with most of them right now. We have one person hold them up while the other one holds their legs straight. We have them stand for as long as they can then we take a break and go on to the next one. We do stretches with them to loosen up their muscles that have gone unused for so long. One of the boys we have been doing tummy time with him to try and increase his neck strength because right now he has a hard time holding his head up and stable. As we learn more and more about the boys and their areas of improvements and their personalities the easier and more exciting it gets.
These are the five boys that we Susannah and are working with the month. http://www.schindia.com/ check them out on the website and learn about each one and how you can sponsor them.
http://www.schindia.com/children/asher/
http://www.schindia.com/children/barnabas/
http://www.schindia.com/children/ezra
http://www.schindia.com/children/silas
http://www.schindia.com/children/jeff/
Working with these boys is challenging but is also one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had. Watching them come alive when we hold them, play with them, snuggle and kiss them is really worth any price.
This little guy brings such joy to my life.
At around 630 or 7 we head back to the house where we all go and get dinner again and we do our team feedback and team time before I shower. After I shower I usually spend time with different people or read then head back to my tent.
